With two weeks left in the regular season, the Yakima Valley baseball team's playoff hopes remain intact despite dropping six of its past seven games. After dropping three of four to second-place Spokane last week, the Yaks sit in fifth place at 10-10 (26-16 overall) heading into this week's four-game set against league-leading Wenatchee.

The Yaks lost their fifth game in a row last Tuesday, dropping both ends of a road doubleheader to Spokane. In the opener, starter Andre Cephers pitched well through six innings, allowing just two hits, two walks and one earned run while striking out four. But relievers Gus Musial and Kolton Summers struggled over the final two frames, allowing a combined five earned runs and six walks as the Yaks fell 9-0. The offense only produced two hits, with Garren Gooler and Jace Fillmore notching singles.

In the nightcap, Gooler had a two-run single in the fifth inning and Cody Densley had an RBI single in the second, but it wasn't enough as the Yaks suffered an 8-3 setback. Gooler and Densley accounted for four of the team's nine hits, while starter Austin Dillon took the loss, allowing seven hits and six earned runs over four innings. Relievers Easton Seeley, Kamren Shirreffs and Austin Murphy were solid in relief, combining to allow three hits and one run.

The Yaks returned to the win column in Saturday's game one at home, scoring three in the first and one in the fourth on the way to a 4-3 triumph. Gooler lined an RBI double and Jaden Estrada delivered a two-run single in the first, while Fillmore added an RBI single in the fourth. Starter Boston Snyder earned the complete-game victory, striking out eight and allowing five hits and four walks over nine innings.

Game two ended in disappointment as the Yaks were unable to overcome an early deficit before falling 2-1. The Sasquatch scored twice in the first off starter Tannon Marsalis, but he didn't allow any more runs over the final seven innings, finishing with seven strikeouts. Estrada accounted for the lone YVC run with an RBI double in the fifth and finished 2-for-4, along with Gooler.

The Yaks are currently one game back of fourth-place Columbia Basin, but they must face two of the East's top three teams, Wenatchee and Treasures Valley, over the final two weeks.